25 May 2016

The Assistant Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Advocate Sadique Kebonang, has called on Francistown City Council (FCC) to help his ministry address Oriental Plaza issues.

Addressing FCC meeting on Tuesday, Advocate Kebonang said his ministry froze the issuance of the Oriental Plaza permit in 2012 on the basis that Batswana should be part of the complex occupancy.

He said there had been several correspondences between his ministry and the owners of the complex concerning proportional occupation, but to date no proposal had been received by his ministry.

However, Advocate Kebonang said the council was welcome to suggest to his ministry on how Batswana could  benefit from the complex and how the issue of occupancy could be better resolved. 

He said he was aware that the council could not force Batswana to operate businesses at the plaza if they were  not interested.

Nominated councillor, Mr Peter Ngoma, expressed concern that the plaza had not been operational for over a long period and would soon become an eye-sore.

On other issues, Cllr Ngoma lamented that the trade ministry had neglected Francistown.

He said while he appreciated the ministry’s efforts in attracting investors into the country, Francistown was not considered when government took a decision to boast the mining towns .

Another nominated councillor, Mr Andy Boatile complained that some chain stores especially those from South Africa never converted their prices to Pula but instead charged the same amount in pula as in rands.

Cllr Ben Mpotokwane of Donga ward called on the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry to support the city in realising its vision of becoming a city of vibrance in investment by 2022.

He called on the ministry to reduce bureaucracy, especially in the formalisation of business activities by investors.

Another specially elected councillor, Mr Zazambi Tuelo requested the ministry to have one of the councillors chair the trade and liquor committee.

He said having an entrepreneur chairing the committee would lead to the committee making unfair decisions.

Cllr Tuelo called on the ministry to introduce one stop service centres, where business people could formalise their businesses without having to go from one corner of the city to the other.

Satellite South councillor, Mr Godisang Radisigo called for the review of liquor trading licences, saying due to restricted hours of selling alcohol, a lot of Batswana visited other areas such as Victoria Falls where they could drink freely for longer hours.

He said by going outside the country, Batswana were also neglecting their tourism areas and if liquor trading hours could be reviewed, they will spend their money locally instead of other countries.

In response, Mr Kebonang said his ministry was reviewing some of its laws and regulations that were overtaken by events.

He explained that it was in the interest of his ministry to have all services provided in one area but due to lack of space, offices end up operating in different areas.ENDS